The Times Herald du lieu suivant : Port Huron, Michigan • Page 41

SUNDAY. JAN. 14. 1996 I I PORT HURON, MICHIGAN IF Your Money Today's Ctassiieds are pubfehed in two sections. Advertising lor automobiles and employment starts on IE.

Classifieds for homes for sale or rent and merchandise begin on 2F. To advertise, cal 982-2274. Cal Michael Eckert at 986265 Vx any questions about mutual funds and stock Bstings. Cal Deborah Absher at 989-6263 for questions about finance and business coverage. 1F ,4 ILo erlaod St Experts put new owners on line IBM's assistance center in Research Triangle Park, N.C Incidents like the man who opened his room window instead of his computer window show that many Americans, despite all the hoopla over advances in technology, still know as much about computers as life on other planets.

But experts whose heads arent immersed in bytes and RAMs point out that computers, no matter how simple manufacturers try to make them, are still the most complex items brought into homes. "This isn't connecting the this is operating computers," said Jerry Cohen, the Westchester (NY.) PC Group. "A lot of beginners are lured by the imagery computers supposedly being to use. But when they the computers home, have no idea what to do them." New and veteran computer are opening all lands of these days because PC sales have, as been strong. The fourth is traditionally the strongest for PC manufacturers and vendors and, although figures arent in yet, they analysts estimate Christmas volume was about 20 percent higher than last year.

NPD Group, a Long Island, market research estimates 11 million families will buy PCs between October and March. Of those, 6 are upgrading units, are in the ranks of the one-third of Americans who already own computers. The remaining 5 million are computer novices. Computers are so new to people that Compaq Computer a leading computer vendor in Houston, Sometimes, PC help calls don't compute Gannett News Service Some of the following calls to IBM's help center show there are plenty of people out there who still are inching onto the information superhighway. DA couple called to say they were experiencing some confusion with a screen command; The computer was telling them to "eject diskette and hit any key." They could not locate the key called "any key." After a caller gave a technician her PC's serial number, he scanned a database of registered users and responded "I see you have an Aptiva desktop unit The caller shrieked and said she'd be right back.

When the customer returned, the technician asked if she was all right The caller responded: "Had I realized you could see me, I never would have telephoned in my bathrobe." Another caller explained she had received a gift of software on 5.25-inch diskettes, but she had only a 3.5-inch disk drive. The technician said she had two options: Get a second disk drive, or use 3.5-inch diskettes. The customer called back later, now complaining that her disk drive was making a terrible noise. And this despite the fact that she was using a 3.5-inch diskette, she said. After questioning, the technician determined the caller had used scissors to make the 5.25-inch diskettes fit.

Peter Suburban Newspapers mation while novices look for the comfort of a human voice over what is sometimes the most simple of instructions. 'There's a huge range of what people know about computers, and we get every bit of that range," said Debbie Carlton, a customer service executive for Apple in Cupertino, Calif. novice of computer users finally muster the bravery to open holiday PCs, company spokeswoman Nora Hahn said. Vendors said, and analysts agreed, that calls for help do not necessarily mean that a computer manufacturer is making a miserable product Instead, it often means veterans want more esoteric infor Texas, is constantly upgrading and simplifying its instructions for how to assemble and operate its units, the company said. But calls to its support center begin rising around Christmas, when the first of the holiday computers are unpacked, and stay high through early February, when the most By PHIL WAGA Gannett News Service The caller, perplexed that his new desktop computer was doing nothing, cried out for help.

No problem, the IBM technician at the other end of the telephone line said. First, open a "window" to launch a specific program, the technician said. The conversation continued, and the caller asked a few moments later if it might be all right to close the window it was getting chilly in the room. The technician had obviously referred not to the window in the room, but to window icons that begin applications. The caller was obviously a PC novice, but the incident should not be considered all that hilarious or all that isolated, specialists at help lines for computer vendors say.

In an age where computer aficionados assume e-mail is as common as regular mail, plenty of people are still absolutely unfamiliar with computing. "A lot of people get PCs for Christmas or buy themselves PCs for Christmas and are then faced with their first computer," said Rolfe Sauls, a supervising help specialist at Woman's By JUUE SCHMIT Gannett News Service SAN MATEO, Calif. When Ellen Pack and Marleen McDaniel went on line five years ago, they knew that as women they were very much in the minority. Now, Ms. McDaniel, 46, and Ms.

Pack, 30, are united in a venture to get more women into cyberspace and build a successful business doing it Their on-line magazine, Women's Wire, was launched on the World Wide Web in August It is one of few on-line magazines targeting women an underserved on-line market Women's Wire (http:www.w-omehn.com) offers a cheeky, informative mix of news, features and profiles. Its content is a bit of Cosmopolitan, Working Woman and People magazines rolled into one. On any day, news stories might include KfflOuTS FSVER dots, with Users of easy bring they with users windows holiday usual, quarter final and The firm, million and many magazine turns pages OPEN FOR BUSINESS Budget Host expansion offers suites, whirlpools The Budget Host Inn it 1484 Gratiot Blvd. in Marysville is adding 16 rooms. The addition will include six suites equipped with whirlpools.

One will be the inn honeymoon suite. "And our plans are to throw in champagne whenever anyone rents that room," said owner Anil PateL Mr. Patel said the work began in September and should be completed in March, in plenty of time for the tourist season. "There's a demand in town," Mr. Patel said.

"There's a demand in the area, period." The new honeymoon suite measures 14 by 40 feet, he said, and includes a living room, a kitchenette, the whirlpool, two air conditioners and two televisions. "We are going to stress we have a honeymoon suite that I don't think anybody else has in town," he said. All of the rooms in the new construction will have a microwave and refrigerator, amenities already offered in the inn's existing rooms. A new sign of the times One of the landmark restaurants along the St Clair River is easier to find. A new sign marks the location of the River Crab and Blue Water Inn at 1137 N.

River Road in St Clair Township. "We needed new signage," said Ruth Rhoades, manager of the inn. "The other one was probably as old as the building." The new sign features a crab logo and the names of the restaurant and the inn. "We were a little difficult to find because our signs were so old," said Ms. Rhoades.

The new sign glows brightly at night, in contrast to the old canvas sign that was lighted by a spotlight "It's neon around the inside of the sign," said Ms. Rhodes. "I think it looks very pretty at night, and it's very readable during the day," she said. Younkers OK's merger deal Younkers, Inc. of Des Moines, Iowa has agreed to a merger with Proffitt's, of Alcoa, Tenn.

Younkers has 53 department stores in the Midwest, including a store at Birchwood Mall in Fort Gratiot. The deal should be completed by the end of January or the first part of February, said Vlnce Otto, a Younkers spokesman in Des Moines. "There are no plans for any changes," he said. Proffitt's has 52 stores. As part of the agreement, Carson Pirie Scott Co.

of Milwaukee, Wis. yet another retailer will drop its attempt at a hostile takeover of Younkers and will support the merger of Younkers and Proffitt's. In a separate agreement, Younkers will sell two of its stores in Rockford, I1L to Carson for $5 million in cash and other considerations. The Birchwood Mall store opened in October 1990 as part of the H.C. Prange Co.

chain, based in Green Bay, Wis. The Prange's department store chain was acquired by Younkers in August 1992. Chamber picks directors The Greater Port Huron Area Chamber of Commerce has elected five members to three-year terms as directors. New directors are John Brian, Michigan National Bank, and Mary Trimmer, Mercy Hospital, in the general business category, Dianne Kokkinos, Textron Automotive Interiors, in the manufacturing category; James Kemp, Meinhardt Batteries, in the retail category; and Robert Bender in the civic category. Loose change Looking for an investment? Think meat snacks.

According to the Michigan Farm Bureau, meat snacks have surpassed pretzels as the fastest growing segment of the snack food industry. Bob Gross is a Times Herald reporter. Call him with ideas for a future column at 989-6275. the best sites on the Web. It has attracted almost $3 million in venture capital funding.

Readership, measured in "hits," is still small: 1.5 million a month. But it has doubled every month. In Internet terms, a hit occurs each time users click on an item on the site. Now, Women's Wire faces the daunting task of making money. To do that, it must convince advertisers its sole means of support that it attracts the consumers they want "If they attract women, they'll attract advertisers because everybody wants to reach that market," says Scott Donaton, executive editor of Advertising Age.

Ms. McDaniel and Ms. Pack are confident they will succeed. Women's Wire expects to sign six advertisers and corporate partners in the first half of 1996. Ms.

McDaniel expects the magazine to be profitable in 1996. Women's Wire is off to a good Financial stocks offer solid return, security on World start Almost 95 of its readers are women and half of those are professionals. The average annual household income of a Women's Wire reader is more than (65,000. But Women's Wire also faces hurdles in attracting enough advertising dollars to be profitable. Advertising spending on-line is expected to grow 20 to 30 a year for the next five years, says Veronis Suhler Associates, a New York-based investment bank.

Yet the dollars are miniscule when compared with what is spent on traditional print and broadcast Last quarter, advertisers spent an estimated $12.4 million on-line, says WebTrack Information Services. That's less than 1 of what they spent on newspapers, magazines, TV and radio shows, says Competitive Media Reporting. Women's Wire competes with thousands of other Web sites for the mtomwtlon not provided; NO not offered Wide Web limited advertising dollars. There's also the danger Women's Wire could get steamrolled by established women's magazines, such as Elk, that have recently gone on line. "They're going to have to prove themselves, price themselves right and draw the right traffic," Mr.

Donaton says. Ms. Pack didn't set out to start a women's on-line magazine. She finished business school and watched her classmates join investment banks. She took a less secure job at a high-tech startup and quit three years later.

With $100,000 raised from family and friends, she launched an on-line bulletin board called Wire Networks in 1992. Soon, 1,500 women were paving $10 a month for the right to talk to each other on line. "That's when I realized how big this could be," she says. By the Times Herald updates on breast-implant lawsuits, profiles of women in business and gossip about Martha Stewart As an on-line magazine, Ms. Pack says Women's Wire offers things traditional print magazines cannot The content changes daily not weekly or monthly.

Readers can respond, via electronic mail to news stories shortly after reading them. One feature asks readers what they think about the U.S. sending troops to Bosnia. In another section, a Women's Wire writer answers fashion questions. "The medium is much more inter active," says Ms.

Pack, who founded the magazine because most on-line content was aimed at men. Ms. McDaniel, its chief executive says: "It was a no-brainer. Nobody else was using this medium to talk to women." Women's Wire made a splashy debut Wired magazine calls it one of economy, coupled with low inflation and low interest rates, is nirvana for financial companies. Mr.

Baron is particularly bullish on discount broker Charles Schwab. Bruce Baughman, co-manager of Franklin Balance Sheet (39 financials), isnt quite so optimistic. "We've made a lot of money in these stocks this year," he says. "We don't like them as well as we did at lower prices." Though he's been selling some bank stocks, Mr. Baughman has been buying some insurance companies that haven't had such big price runups.

Two favorites are Home Beneficial Corp. (Nasdaq, symbol HBENB, recent price $25) and American National Insurance (Nasdaq, ANAT, $62). Some money managers worry consumers have taken on too much debt that they wont be able to repay. That fear pushed financial stocks down briefly toward the end of 1995. 'You have to really do your homework on financial stocks because they can blow up," says Michael Sandler, co-manager of Clipper fund (39 financials).

Nevertheless, the short-term risk for financial -stocks and for the funds that invest in them appears low compared with technology stocks because financial stocks sell at much lower prices relative to earnings. rCDCCT DATCC Jporwi gcosi CAIIMCC ATT noual rx ICriCOl flMICO dMVIWUO nM I CO area financial institutions. 30-year 15-year 30-year Balloon Home Home New New $mkt 6 I 12 36 I 48 fixed fixed adjust mortg. equity improv. car boat demand month month month i month mortg.

mortg. mortg. loan loan loan loan acct CD CO CD CO WD NO NO NO NO NO NO NO 5.08 5.05 NO 5.15 5.25 7.00 6.50 550 725 925 925 8.75 8.75 3.09 5.20 525 5.51 5.77 7.00. 650 5.375 NO 8.90 850 8.80 8.90 NR NR NR NR NR 7.125 6.50 525 6.625 NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO 7.125 6.625 5.00 8.75 850 8.75 9.50 2.90 520 5.15 NO 520 725 6.625 550 725 9.50 9.50 8.75 9.50 2.93 5.10 5.10 520 5.45 NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO 5.03 5.10 5.15 525 5.30 NR NR NR NR NR NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO 7.00 650 525 650 NR NO NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO 5.15 5.15 5.15 5.15 525 7.00 6.375 5.375 5.75 1050 9.50 NR NR NO NR NR NR NR 7.125 6.625 5.00 7.00 9.90 1225 8.75 9.90 2.94 4.50 5.10 520 520 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO 7.00 650 5.625 5.875 850 NO NO NO NO NO NO NO-NO NR NR NR NR NR NR NO NO NO NO NO NO NO AG. Edwards! Sorts.

Inc. 985-9555 Algonac Savings 794-4951 Crazeo 987-8300 987-1424 Comm. 329-9(23 Eastern Michigan 987-9777 Edward 0. Jones a Co. 385-9697 First Alliance Mortgage 982-1465 First Federal of Mich.

982-0430 First of Michigan 987-1500 First Security Mmrrs 984-4UO0 Michigan National 987-1800 NBO 984-5161 Mortgage 987-3667 9824948 Towns Mortgage 982-6700 SOURCE: Institutions quoted NOTES: NR While technology stocks got most of the attention last year, financial stocks investments in banks, brokerages and the like gave investors about as much profit without a lot of the ups and downs. Standard Poor's composite index of financial stocks rose more than 50 last year through mid-December. Most top-performing aggressive-growth and long-term-growth funds have little money invested in financial stocks. But many value-oriented, growth-and-income funds are loaded with normally stodgy banks, insurance companies and brokers. Momingstar Mutual Funds, which provided the statistics below, includes real-estate investment trusts and closed-end funds in its definition of financials.

'Technology is a lot more glitzy, but banking is the second-oldest business in the world," says Chris Davis, co-manager of Selected American Shares, which has 45 of assets in financial stocks. He believes financial stocks will continue to surge in coming years. Ron Baron, manager of Baron Growth A Income (38 financials), agrees. "Mutual-fund companies and brokerage companies will benefit from that trend," Mr. Baron says.

Moreover, today's slow-growing a. hh.